Griese’s confidence apparent to teammates

Thursday

Lovie Smith was asked what led him to believe Brian Griese would be content to be a backup quarterback when Chicago signed him last year.

Lovie Smith was asked what led him to believe Brian Griese would be content to be a backup quarterback when Chicago signed him last year.

Time for a clarification.

“Brian never was OK with sitting,” the Bears head coach said Wednesday at Halas Hall, as his 3-4 team prepares to face 4-2 Detroit on Sunday at Soldier Field. “He never let on that he wanted to sit or he should be a guy who should. From early talks, he was a confident guy that said ‘Hey, I can do the job, but I understand how it’s set up here.’

“Most guys, when they’re confident like that, they’ll do what they have to. But it’s not like Brian came in thinking, ‘Hey, I’m in a backup role. I’ll just kick back for a while.’ That was never the case with him.”

Now, Griese’s leading fourth-quarter charges and winning football games. The way he did so Sunday at Philadelphia made more people take notice — he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

“Honestly,” he deadpanned, “my initial reaction was it must not have been a good week for the rest of the NFC.”

It wasn’t, compared to what he did. He took the offense 97 yards in 1:52 with no timeouts to a winning touchdown in a 19-16 triumph at Philadelphia.

If it was an isolated accomplishment, it still would have been significant.

The fact he’s doing it nearly weekly makes it even a more encouraging development.
The confidence Griese had has helped him. The confidence he has added has impressed teammates.

Griese previously played at Denver (1998-2002), Miami (2003) and Tampa Bay (2004-05). The Griese with Chicago is a different Griese than who started as a Bronco.

“Am I different? Oh, I hope so. I hope so,” he said. “I learned a lot of things there and matured as a player, as a person, and I think that’s what this game is all about — learning from your experiences and applying that and getting better.”

As for that NFL honor, he admitted it made him happy.

“More than anything, it represents as a team what we were able to do, specifically offensively. So I take it on behalf of our offense,” he said. It does not give him any feelings of redemption because he said that wasn’t needed.

“I’m happy to be contributing to the team more than anything,” he said. “As
a competitor, as a guy that’s played football his whole life, I just feel happy to be out there again. When you’re not out there for a couple of years, you realize you can’t take it for granted.

“Every time you have an opportunity to go out there and compete and work with these guys that I play with, it’s really a treat. I’m just going to enjoy it.”

Support abounds

His teammates enjoy being along for the ride.

“He’s level-headed, whether everything’s going great or not so great,” rookie tight end Greg Olsen said. “He’s the same guy, always in control and always knows what’s going on.

“He’s calm, especially on the field. You just have to be around him to experience it. We all have a lot of confidence in him and in the offense.”

Said wideout Rashied Davis: “Griese’s playing great. He’s always been a poised quarterback.

“I remember watching him when I was a little bit younger — Gries, sorry about that, Gries. He’s always been a straight-forward guy. He goes up there focused and knows what needs to get done. He goes out and executes.”

Griese, a 10th-year veteran, is 68-of-111 over the last three games, with six touchdowns, three interceptions and a 94.3 passer rating.

Only New England’s Tom Brady (14) has thrown more touchdown passes than Griese and the Giants’ Eli Manning in that stretch.

Griese’s eight touchdown tosses over his four games as starter ties the best total for a Bears quarterback in the Super Bowl era (1966-present), joining Erik Kramer.
The back-to-back 300-yard passing games last was done by a Bear in 1999 (Jim Miller).

Why the success now?

“I think at the end of the day, whether you’re down or whether you’re up at the end of the game, you have to have the mind-set that you’re going to play every single play until the end, till they blow the whistle,” Griese said.

Cool, calm, collected

Griese is doing his job without much outward emotion. He doesn’t resort to pumping fists or slapping players on the back.

“I just don’t think that’s the kind of guy he is,” Olsen said. “And that’s what’s worked for him. Everyone knows the type of guy he is and feeds off of that.

“If something needs to be addressed, he’ll come over and correct things that might have been done wrong. He’s not going to just come over and talk if there’s nothing that needs to be said.”

Said offensive coordinator Ron Turner: “He can be vocal when he needs to. He doesn’t hesitate to talk to receivers about things and communicates real well with them.”

“Believe me; he’s got our full attention. He’s got my attention — he’s got the staff’s attention,” he said. “That drive he did last week was exceptional. That’s who he is and our team knows that.

“This guy is a great competitor and he’s smart. I mean, he is competitive and smart. He knows what to do with the ball. So we’ve got our hands full, and he’s just getting better and better the more he plays.

“He’s always been that type of guy, and he’s a leader. It’s about winning with him.”
Tight end Desmond Clark played with Griese at Denver, and says Griese got an undeserved reputation for being aloof.

“I don’t see how people can make those statements without being around the guy,” Clark said. “I always thought he was a guy who would come to you and talk about whatever — not always football. We go out and eat as a group on Saturdays — that’s the kind of guy he is. He’s not going to come and party it up, but as far as being a good quarterback and good teammate, he’s always been that kind of guy.”

Clark sees Griese being more outspoken with teammates now.

“He lets people really know what’s on his mind,” he said. “He’s not afraid to express his emotions. A young guy like he was out in Denver, that’s kind of tough to do when playing on a veteran team.

“Here, he’s an older guy. I think he’s more comfortable expressing what he feels and what he’s thinking.”

Turner said Griese maximized his time as Rex Grossman’s backup.

“He did a good job when not playing by learning, watching and getting a feel for what we’re trying to do,” Turner said. “And the experience he previously had, he can draw from that and has done a great job at that.”

Reed Schreck is the NFL writer for the Rockford Register Star. Contact him at 815-987-1381 or rschreck@rrstar.com.

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